Julis

In June 2013, a salvage excavation was conducted near Hodayah Junction, c. 6 km east of Ashkelon (Permit No. A-6819; map ref. 167072–206/621217–95; Fig. 1), prior to widening Highway 3. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and financed by the Israel National Roads Company, was directed by V. Lipshits (field photography), with the assistance of D. Igorov (area supervision), Y. Al-‘Amor (administration), M. Kunin (surveying and drafting), D. Varga (consultation), N. Zak (plans) and I. Lidski-Reznikov (pottery drawing). Trial trenches (A. Fraiberg) were dug at the site prior to the excavation.

The current excavation was located in a region where the Arab village of Julis was situated until 1948. Julis appears on the PEF survey map of Western Palestine and was documented by V. Guérin as a small village of c. 500 inhabitants located on a hill (Guérin 1982:94). Six squares were opened (c. 150 sq m; Fig. 2) in the excavation and sparse architectural remains and a refuse pit dating from the Ottoman period and British Mandate were exposed. These were probably remains of the Arab village. The space between the squares was not excavated due to a water pipe that passed through the area. In the northern square (D3), a power line was discovered right below the surface, and therefore the square and adjacent area were not excavated.

In Sq B2, a wall (W1; length 6.1 m, width 0.65 m; Fig. 3) was discovered that was founded on hamra soil and built in a north–south direction of limestone bonded with mortar; it was preserved to a height of 0.5 m. A small section of a floor bedding (L113; thickness 7 cm) made of crushed chalk was exposed just east of the wall. It seems this floor bedding was severely damaged as a result of modern infrastructure work. In Sq B4 another wall stump (W2; length 0.9 m, width 0.47 m) was revealed built in a similar manner as W1 and aligned in an east–west direction; it was preserved to a height of 0.3 m. A refuse pit (L100, L106; Fig. 4) was discovered in the eastern part of the square. The ceramic artifacts from the excavation were mostly discovered in the refuse pit and to a lesser extent near W1. They included fragments of Gaza ware dating to the Late Ottoman period, among them small bowls (Fig. 3:1–5), flat bowls (Fig. 5:4–6), a jar (Fig. 5:7), jugs (Fig. 5:8–10) and a juglet (Fig. 5:11). In addition, a small amount of Mamluk-period pottery sherds the was recovered. These are mainly jars with ledge handles and are decorated with a dotted pattern along the neck and handles (Fig. 5:12–14). On the basis of the pottery it seems the remains revealed in the excavation date to the Late Ottoman period and are part of the village of Julis which was situated there.

Guérin V. 1982. A Geographic, Historical and Archaeological Description of the Land of Israel 2: Judah (2) (transl. from the French 1868 ed. By H. Ben-Amram). Jerusalem (Hebrew).